I suspect that nesting material is not a biologically-limiting factor such
that birds need assistance with it. Last year, in cleaning out my chickadee
nesting boxes, I could see that lawn moss made up 90% of the nests. I've
since learned that lawn moss is a massive nitrogen fixer, so good for my
apple trees. And you don't need to mow it and it's really soft. So now I'm
trying to revert what little lawn I have to a lawn moss lawn.
On Wed, Feb 9, 2022 at 5:00 PM Constance Sidles <
constancesidles at gmail.com>
wrote:
>
Hey tweets, the best thing to do to provide nesting materials for birds is
>
to think about planting native plants that birds aleady use for nesting
>
materials:
>
>
• thistledown
>
>
• cattail fluff
>
>
• spider silk (don't use pesticides to kill insects and arachnids in your
>
yard)
>
>
• lichen and moss on trees
>
>
• dry grasses
>
>
• small sticks left on the ground
>
>
• cottonwood fluff
>
>
• mud (for swallows)
>
>
- Connie, Seattle
>
>
csidles at constancypress.com
>
>
> On Feb 9, 2022, at 4:41 PM, THOMAS BENEDICT <benedict.t at comcast.net>
>
wrote:
>
>
>
> So would synthetics work better? I know cotton is not recommended for
>
human outdoor gear because it holds onto water. Maybe the same thing for
>
hummingbirds?
>
>
>
> Tom Benedict
>
> Seahurst, WA
>
>> On 02/09/2022 4:01 PM Constance Sidles <constancesidles at gmail.com>
>
wrote:
>
>>
>
>> Dear Mike, it's best not to use dryer lint for nesting material because
>
when it gets wet, it gets soggy and cold, which is bad for eggs and
>
nestlings. - Connie, Seattle
>
>>
>
>> csidles at constancypress.com
>
>>
>
>>> On Feb 9, 2022, at 3:17 PM, Mike Wagenbach <wagen at uw.edu> wrote:
>
>>>
>
>>> Is it OK to put out dryer lint for birds to pick up for nesting? Ours
>
is probably mostly cotton.
>
>>>
>
>>> Mike Wagenbach
>
>>> Seattle
>
>
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>
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>
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>
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>
--
Steve Hampton
Port Townsend, WA (qatáy)